Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Chinese accounted for almost 80
percent of the investors who have obtained visas to live in
Portugal through a program that encourages foreign investment in
the country’s battered real estate market.

A total of 318 visas have been issued under a plan that
offers residence permits to property buyers, said Foreign
Ministry spokeswoman Francisca Seabra. Of those, 248 went to
Chinese nationals compared with 15 for Russians, the next
biggest group. Angolans and Brazilians collected 9 visas each
since the program began in October last year, she said.

Southern European nations including Cyprus, Greece and
Spain introduced plans to trade residence visas for investment
after their economies and real estate markets were hit hardest
by the financial crisis. Wealthy Chinese have been buying homes
from Vancouver to London in the last several years as their
domestic market faces government measures to cool prices.

Portugal’s program has a minimum price of 500,000 euros
($668,000), the same as in Spain. Greece and Cyprus offer fast-track permits for purchases of at least 250,000 euros and
300,000 euros, respectively.

Non-European nationals who transfer 1 million euros or more
in capital or create at least 10 jobs in Portugal can also
qualify for the visas, according to the program’s website.

‘Decisive Stimulus’

Portugal may issue as many as 400 visas this year, the
Foreign Ministry estimated. The resident permit program has
resulted in 198 million euros of investment since it started.
There are no plans to limit the number of permits investors can
get next year, Seabra said.

The Portuguese visa program has provided a “decisive
stimulus to the real estate market’s recovery,” she said.

Portugal’s real estate market is showing signs of a
turnaround after having the worst year in decades last year,
Cushman & Wakefield Inc. said on Sept. 19.

Spending on commercial real estate rose to 161 million
euros in the six months through June from about 47 million euros
a year earlier, according to the New York-based property broker.
Investment in residential property rose 60 percent to 230
million euros.